


hidden depths

by platonics



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Alternate Universe - Non-Despair (Dangan Ronpa), Animal Shelters, Bonding over cats, Cats, First Meetings, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, M/M, ryoma works at an animal shelter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-23
Updated: 2020-05-23
Packaged: 2021-03-03 01:34:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,374
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24342862
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/platonics/pseuds/platonics
Summary: “Thank you! All these cats look so cute and friendly, Gonta hardly knows where to start!”“I know the feeling,” he admitted.In which Gonta comes in to look at the cats and ends up being much more interested in Ryoma.
Relationships: Gokuhara Gonta/Hoshi Ryoma
Comments: 8
Kudos: 95





	hidden depths

**Author's Note:**

> non-despair, no talents au, all that stuff, but ryoma was still in prison for awhile. everyone's in their early-mid twenties or so!
> 
> tsumugi wasn't originally going to be in this but then i thought of the gap moe comment and just had to roll with it

An animal shelter filled with cuddly cats and cutesy imagery might be one of the last places someone would expect a convicted murderer to work. Tough, no nonsense, killer of yakuza members...Ryoma Hoshi wasn’t the ideal employee for a family-friendly type of place. Honestly, he still had no idea why he was hired. Maybe his love for cats just shone through strongly enough to overshadow the stigma.

Whatever the case, he was glad he’d been given a chance. At the time, he’d been recently released from prison and had nothing but a shitty apartment and meager amount of savings. Not a living friend or relative to speak of who still wanted anything to do with him, and even his old pets were long gone, taken in by family members he’d lost touch with years ago. Working at the shelter gave him meaning — a reason to get up in the morning when everything else seemed pointless.

Plus it was, as one of his coworkers eagerly informed him, ‘gap moe’ to see someone like him being so tender and affectionate. Not that Ryoma cared much about that kind of thing. He wasn’t looking for a relationship, so whether people found him charming was neither here nor there.

He just liked taking care of the cats. They were his friends, his confidants. Even now that he was slowly gaining some new human friends, he still found himself talking to the cats more often than he’d like to admit. 

That happened to be exactly what he was doing when he heard the door open. It was still fairly early in the morning, on what looked to be a drizzly, gray sort of day. The shelter had only been open for an hour or so, and aside from Tojo cleaning up in the back, Ryoma was the only one there. The solitude had lowered his guard, and he found himself carrying on a hushed, one-sided conversation with Azuki, one of the shelter’s newest arrivals.

Falling silent, he glanced in the direction of the entrance. Standing there, looking around wide-eyed, was a tall, hulking man in a suit, long hair tumbling down his back in untamed waves. Somehow, he looked even more out of place there than Ryoma himself.

“Hey,” he said, setting Azuki down on her favorite perch before letting himself out of the large enclosure. Before he could even continue to launch into the usual spiel, the man returned his greeting much more eagerly than he expected.

“Hello! Gonta’s name is Gokuhara Gonta. Nice to meet you.” He was outright beaming. A smile like that was almost blinding at this hour, but Ryoma couldn’t say he minded. It felt good to be around happy people, even if he often couldn’t muster up those same emotions in himself. Even here, the happiness was rarely directed at _him_. People were eager to see the cats, not to get to know the employees. That suited him fine though. He wasn’t the type to want to make idle chit-chat with everyone who came in.

“Hoshi Ryoma,” he replied, unable to fully hide the hint of amusement in his tone. “Nice to meet you too.” After briefing Gokuhara on the rules and information a first-time visitor should know, he started to turn away, adjusting his hat. “If you have any questions, just ask.”

“Thank you! All these cats look so cute and friendly, Gonta hardly knows where to start!” Hearing that brought a smile to his face. He paused, glancing back at him. Appearances really could be deceiving — they were both proof of that. Maybe that was part of why he felt an odd sort of kinship with Gokuhara.

“I know the feeling,” he admitted. “If you’re looking for suggestions, Tama here is always eager for attention.” He gestured towards the cat in question, watching as the other’s gaze followed, like he was hanging on his every word. It caught him off-guard. That was the only reason Ryoma could think of for why he launched into the story of how Tama ended up at the shelter, leaning against the wall as he watched Gokuhara pet her. 

* * *

“That guy’s been here three times in the past week, y’know. Gokuhara, was it? He came in yesterday and looked so disappointed when I told him it was your day off. It’s only been a month since his first visit, and he’s already becoming a regular.” Shirogane’s eyes sparkled with mischief, and Ryoma just knew that whatever came next would probably be embarrassing or awkward in some way.

He wasn’t that close with Shirogane, didn’t talk to her as much as some of his other coworkers. She always seemed friendly enough, but outside of topics directly related to the shelter, they didn’t have much in common. She was a passionate fan of all things fictional, and her fondness for playing with relationship dynamics and cheering for her favorite couples seemed to cross over into her real life sometimes. That knowledge alone was enough of a hint as to her motives for bringing up Gokuhara.

“Is that so?” He shrugged, not pausing in his task of filling up food bowls. “He seems like a good guy, though I can’t understand why he’s always so eager to talk to me of all people.”

“It’s like I told you before,” Shirogane said, glancing down at the fluffy orange cat headbutting her leg. “It’s gap moe. People are intrigued by you because you’re not what they’re expecting! Maybe he thinks you’re cute.”

The orange cat meowed in response. Whether it was a meow of agreement or disbelief was up for debate. She chuckled, crouching down to pet him. Across the room, Ryoma just scoffed, shaking his head.

“Not likely. Pretty sure I’m the last person anyone would be calling cute.” It wasn’t meant to be self-deprecating — not more than most things he said, anyway. He saw it as a simple statement of fact. In both appearance and personality, cute was so far from an appropriate descriptor that it was laughable.

“Fine, then maybe he wants to make you happy,” Shirogane offered instead. “Like, he can tell you seem lonely and he wants to help. He seems pretty cheerful, and I think he said something once about needing to be gentlemanly, or something like that.” 

“I don’t need anyone’s charity.” 

She groaned, straightening up and brushing orange fur from her clothes. He didn’t _like_ making people exasperated with him. It just seemed to be an unfortunate side effect of his gloomy attitude. Fully expecting her to end the conversation there, Ryoma was almost startled when she spoke up again a few moments later.

“That’s not really what I meant. He clearly enjoys it. Just...do you like him?”

It was a question Ryoma had no idea how to answer. It seemed so silly, so juvenile. Not only were they adults, long since out of high school, his singular experience with romance had ended badly, to say the least. He’d never been embroiled in the world of crushes and dating. But when he tried to imagine what it might be like to go on a date with the man he’d been getting to know, he’d be lying if he said it sounded bad.

“Maybe. I think we’ve still got a ways to go before that matters though.”

* * *

“I’m glad you’re the one adopting Tama. She’s gotten really attached to you.” Ryoma cracked a smile, watching Tama slink out of her opened carrier and begin to investigate Gonta’s living room. “Couldn’t imagine her going home with anyone else.”

“Yeah, Gonta loves Tama too. She’s a good friend.” Gonta beamed as he said that, sounding wholeheartedly genuine as always. Ryoma half-expected him to start tearing up out of pure joy. And she’s the reason we’re together too. Remember?”

How could he forget? She was the cat he’d introduced Gonta to on that first day, when he had no idea what possessed him to get so involved in talking to a stranger. At the time, he never would’ve imagined it would lead to getting a boyfriend. It was little more than a few months ago, but it felt like much longer. 

“Of course. In a way, I suppose she’s been rooting for us all along.”

**Author's Note:**

> this was my first time writing ryoma aside from like one or two stray lines of dialogue here and there so hhh i hope i did him justice. i don't give him as much love and appreciation as i should


End file.
